Do you ever find yourself worrying that you’re not good enough to start or run a successful home-based bakery? Do thoughts of self-doubt hold you back? You might be surprised how many home-based bakers experience these feelings and allow their thinking to hold them back from achieving the successful home bakery business they deserve.
In this post, I want to help you get rid of the self-doubt that comes along with imposter syndrome.
I’ll define imposter syndrome, show you some examples of imposter syndrome as a home-based baker, and help you regain control by sharing some tips and techniques that will help you remember why you started on this journey of selling home-baked goods in the first place!
What is imposter syndrome?
While not being an “officially diagnosable” disorder, imposter syndrome is loosely defined as:
Doubting your ability and/or feeling like a fraud. Imposter syndrome can leave you feeling like a phony and make you fear being “found out.”
Why are bakers, cake decorators, and cookie makers susceptible to imposter syndrome
For bakers, decorators, artists, and creative people it's easy to understand feeling sensitive to these types of thoughts.
As bakers, we are putting ourselves “out there” and that can feel incredibly vulnerable. All the preparations, hard work, and desire to please people with our creations can leave us feeling extremely exposed!
Don’t worry though. These are perfectly natural feelings for any creative person trying to start a side hustle!
Take the Home Bakery Imposter Syndrome Quiz
Does this topic feel like something you resonate with? Take the quiz below to get a better idea of your current mindset about your baking business, then keep reading because I’ve got some tried and true tips if you want a little extra help.
Imposter Syndrome Quiz- Home-Based Bakers Edition!
These scenarios will help you recognize the signs of imposter syndrome. Check out the questions below and count the number of times you feel like the answer is TRUE in the following scenarios.
- I often worry that people will find out I'm not a good baker.
- I have a hard time accepting compliments about my baking.
- Promoting my baking on social media, or sharing positive customer reviews feels like bragging.
- If someone says I'm doing great, I think they don't know what they're talking about.
- I feel like I need to be perfect because if I make one small mistake I will disappoint everyone.
How to manage imposter syndrome
How did you do on the quiz? If you had three or more TRUE answers, then you might want to add a few new techniques to your mindset tool kit!
Here are some tips to keep you feeling positive and excited about growing your business and putting your best self forward.
Recognize that you are not alone
If you take away anything from this article today, then it should be this: It's normal to have these types of thoughts!
In my coaching program, I’ve helped dozens of bakers work through mindset issues like this. It's much more common than you would think. I see mindset roadblocks just as often as the more typical challenges like planning a menu and pricing your baked goods.
Are you interested in getting coached through some of these challenges? My Better Baker Academy helps home-based bakers with goal-setting and accountability as they build a reliable baking income.
Practice regular self-care
I know the term “self-care” feels like a buzzword these days. Everyone is talking about it for a reason though. Self-care can help you to stay focused and reminds you to prioritize yourself, your thoughts, and your goals.
I’ll admit that when I was a working owner with three bakeries to run I rarely took any time for myself. I regularly said yes to too many orders, let work take over my time, and left myself feeling wrung out!
Now self-care is something that I’m working on. Although It's not natural for me, I’m making the effort to prioritize taking time for myself. So far, it has made a noticeable difference!
Keep a journal to help combat imposter syndrome
Journaling can be a powerful tool to help you self-reflect and better understand your feelings. The best way to overcome imposter syndrome is to accept that it's normal to feel insecure at times.
Here are a few journaling prompts to get you started:
- List all the good things you have to offer
- Name your feeling right now.
- I feel (blank). It's okay that I feel (blank). Everyone feels (blank) at times.
- What steps can I take to silence my inner critic?
- What advice would you give a friend in your position?
Create a mantra
A mantra is a phrase or slogan that you repeat frequently. You can use it when you notice imposter syndrome creeping in and help re-direct your thinking.
Here’s how to create a mantra:
- Write down the negative thought you are having.
- Draw a line through that thought and rewrite it as a positive truth.
- Start with “I am, I feel, I believe, I do, or I understand”
Here’s an example:
My negative thoughts creep in when I'm doing something new or hard. The first time had a booth at the farmer’s market I felt so out of my element that my imposter syndrome thoughts were in full focus!
“What am I doing here? I’m so out of my element. These other bakers are so much better than me”
I rewrote this in the positive, and now this is my mantra: I believe in myself and my abilities
Combating imposter syndrome as a home baker takes practice
The first step in pushing back imposter syndrome thoughts is to recognize the symptoms. Remind yourself that lots of people feel like this from time to time. It's completely normal to doubt yourself when you are trying new things.
Next, recognize that you are not alone. It takes a lot of courage to do this. Many home-based bakers are feeling very similar thoughts as you.
Remember that practicing self-care helps you to manage your thoughts better. When you do find yourself stuck in imposter syndrome thinking, use a mantra to gently refocus on the positive.
Want to learn more about imposter syndrome?
Here's what another baker wrote about this topic.
This is another interesting article on imposter syndrome.
Looking for more tips to help you run a successful home-based bakery? I share my tips in this article The Secrets to a Successful Home Bakery. Check out the full post!
So baker, when does imposter syndrome creep up for you? Let me know in the comments when you notice negative thinking taking over.
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